Draft DirectionTHIS CONTENT IS COPYWRITED, REDISTRIBUTION OF IT (including copy/pasting it to a message board, forum or bbs) IS PROHIBITED AND COULD RESULT IN LEGAL ACTIONS - feel free to quote up to 1 paragraph providing a source link to http://www.49ersparadise.cjb.net is included
Hey Folks,
Been a while since Iíve written, so I figured I should at least get something out for you guys. I guess I have an excuse, Iíve been working feverishly at fixing the problems with the forum, and at setting up the new one. Nevertheless, five hours of sleep last night allows me to get a quick article outÖ I was going to write about losing Owens and Garcia, but I think that has been beaten to death, so I didnít. hope you enjoy it.

The NFL Draft is now around the corner and the 49ers are in serious need of some help. There are in my mind, three ways that the 49ers can approach this draft, one of which I do not see as being effective. The team is clearly in need of some star talent. The have lost lots of starters and in so doing have lost playmakers. Meanwhile other playmakers like Jamie Winborn are injury prone, or in the case of Julian Peterson are under questionable contract status. The first approach then is to trade up. Acquire as many high picks as possible and use them to draft guys that they think will be studs. The biggest problem with this method is that this years draft is quite deep, and the 49ers have many wholes to fill, not just one or two.

The second option then would be to trade down and acquire as many mid round picks as possible. Aim to have all of the picks between the second and fourth round and hope that a real solid foundation can be built around the players that are drafted. Turn eight picks into 11 or 12 and possibly even preserve a first round pick, but move down in the first round. This quantity over quality method may be necessary to fill out the team roster, but obviously loses some of the appeal that an all quality draft would have.

The third, and in my mind, least effective approach would be to stand pat. Keep all eight picks exactly as they are, possibly move up or down a little here or there to try and land some targeted players, but no major movements. In my mind this method would fail to get us a few serious play makers, and fail to assemble enough quantity to build a foundation from. The team has a fairly high first round pick, but most of the star talent is likely to be gone by then.

I firmly believe that the team has to make moves in this years draft to walk away successful. It would be quite surprising to me if they managed to either fill all their needs or get some serious play makers from their current draft standing. Among the areas that need to be targeted are defensive line, offensive line, receiver, and cornerback. Some people may differ in their opinion, but I also identify linebacker as an area of need. I think the team could use more than one player at most of these positions, to either fill out the roster, or assemble a team full of playmakers.